4
“Are you alive?” A rough voice found Nina’s ears.
Light tickled the edges of her vision, and she stirred then awoke to a throbbing headache, pain radiating through her temples with alarming power.
“Holy fuck…” she grumbled, forcing herself to sit up. The room spun, and she immediately slammed her eyelids shut again. “Okay… what the actual hell…”
She breathed deeply and tried to use her hands to pull herself upwards and into a sitting position. Her fingers were shaking so badly that she could barely move her hands, let alone use them to support her body. With no other choice, she reluctantly crumpled back down into the pillows. Wait… pillows?
The jarring flood of recollection rocketed Nina upwards and threw her eyes wide open. Her heart beat rapidly, and she glanced left and right, trying to make sense of her surroundings. She noticed the fire crackling in the hearth. She smelt coffee sizzling somewhere. She discovered she was tucked carefully under quilted blankets, real feather pillows wedged beneath her back, and that was when the dark man’s face came into view, hovering a few inches away from her own. He wore a concerned expression, his eyebrows arching upwards, his forehead twisted with alarm. Nina breathed out and tried to focus on his coal colored eyes, everything else was spinning so quickly she felt she had to focus on something neutral or else risk being violently sick all over the brightly colored patches of material that lay across her legs.
“Well you’re alive,” Rowan was saying, but his voice sounded distant, very off. He stood to his full height and wiped his hands down his jeans. “That’s good. I was seriously worried for a second there.”
Nina blinked rapidly, trying to remember how it was she had come to be tucked into blankets in front of this man’s fire.
One second I had been staring at the cabin from the edge of the forest, the next… what? What had happened after that? She closed her eyes, trying to stop the spinning, trying to focus on the passing of events.
“There’s coffee,” Rowan’s voice called from some very distant plain. “And I’m cooking up some bacon right now. I hope you like bacon. Well, it doesn’t really matter if you like it or not, now does it, because you have gotta get some food and nutrients in you and this is what we have got right now, so.” She heard shuffling, lifting, the sound of fat sizzling over the open flames. “Mm,” Rowan grinned. “That smell. There is nothing in the world as comforting as the smell of fresh bacon frying, I tell ya. God, that brings me back to being just a little kid again.” He rotated the spit and settled a hand on his knee. “And there is nothing like some salt and fat to really put some life back into ya, that’s what I say,” he said gently, glancing over his shoulder at the red headed girl lying prone on the couch.
His gaze caught her delicate face, and he found himself unable to look away. Her skin looked as soft as petals and as smooth as polished stone. Her eyelashes were the color of lightning and they brushed across her cheeks like a whisper. And her hair, her mane of impossibly fiery hair fell over her shoulders, set loose by her endless tumble through the darkened woods, and cascaded over her cheeks, her chest, like an electric waterfall. The bacon burned and crackled to the fire place’s floor, and Rowan jumped.
“Shit,” he whispered, yanking the spit from the flames.
He frowned and swallowed, steadying himself. Easy now, he told himself. Easy.
He fitted another slab of thick, freshly butchered bacon onto the pointy end of the spit and eased the meat back into the heart of the fire. As the fire crackled and the meat spat thick droplets of fat into the flames, Nina kept her eyes squeezed shut, her mind racing through the events of the night before. Had she simply been so tired that she could not remember walking across the clearing and winding her way through the vegetable garden and into the house? Had she actually been half asleep for much of the walk, stumbling in a dream like state onwards, only kept upright by the aid of the walking stick? Or had something happened, something perhaps more sinister, something that had forcibly erased her ability to recall her journey into bed the night before? She squinted her eyes more tightly closed still, willing her brain to stop spinning, her brow furrowing and collecting beads of sweat as she tried desperately to latch onto some semblance of an understanding of how she had ended up here, on this couch.
“Mmm!” Rowan almost purred as he pulled the cooked bacon from the flames and waved it slowly through the air, cooling it down.
Then he reached an eager hand forward and plucked the meat from the roasting stick. He grinned as he set it down on a small plate, next to a slice of roughly chopped toast. He grabbed a mug of coffee and the plate of bacon and then stood carefully, gingerly balancing the full cup of coffee so as not to spill a single drop, as he crossed the room and stopped next to Nina. As he came near to her, Nina again opened her eyes. His dark face flashed into her view, and she was suddenly filled with a feeling of cold, sobering horror.
“Holy shit,” she breathed. She sat up very straight, her spine tingling. She pulled the blankets tightly to her breasts and stared straight ahead. “You gave me Rohypnol.”
The words landed so fiercely on Rowan’s ears that he nearly dropped the carefully balanced cup and plate. His eyebrows shot upwards and nearly scraped his hairline, and he staggered back in absolute shock.
“What?” He barked incredulously.
He stared at the redheaded girl yanking the quilted blankets more tightly around her skinny form. She turned her head and fixed him with a blank slate of a stare.
“You,” she said, her voice even and calm. “You gave me Rohypnol.”
Rowan jutted his head forward and squinted at her. Am I hearing her right? Is she hallucinating? He placed the coffee and the breakfast on the floor and put his hands on his hips.
“What are you talking about?”
Nina’s upper lip curled in a snarl and her eyes filled with disgust.
“I knew it,” she began, her voice hard and accusatory, dripping with hatred. “I knew only fucking asshole losers would be living like this out in the middle of fucking nowhere, all be themselves. Yea. That’s right. You found me, and you lead me on a wild mother fucking goose chase through the night to make me really fucking tired and unaware. And then you guided me back to your place. And that’s when you slipped me the fucking Rohypnol shit, and that’s why I can’t remember getting into the house, and into this shitty bed. Holy shit,” she spat, her voice raising to a higher, more dangerous pitch. “You’re a real piece of fucking scum.”
Rowan dropped his hands, and his eyes widened into deep pools of black.
“Hey,” he said. “Hey now there. Easy.”
Nina laughed violently; there was no humor in the outburst. She rocked herself onto her side so that she sat, bundled protectively in the blankets, facing him straight on.
“Easy?” she yelled. “Easy? You want me to be what, totally like, fucking calm or something now? Yea I don’t think so buddy. I don’t think so. Holy shit. I cannot, like, believe this. I cannot believe this. You fucking wipe my memory so you can what? Kidnap me and hold me hostage as your little fucking sex slave in the middle of the woods? Do you not seriously see how totally like fucked up that is?! And then you want me to calm down, take it easy? Okay, like, bullshit, dude. Total fucking bullshit. You’re… wow. Wow. Like wow.”
Nina’s shoulders heaved up and down, causing her long red hair to bounce slightly over her body. She shook her head and bit her lip.
Rowan stared, completely perplexed and taken aback by the situation. The words slowly made sense to him as the seconds passed. And then he relaxed. His shoulders dropped, and his eyebrows crept down his face and back into their usual position. His lips twisted into the whispers of a half smile.
“So, let me get this straight,” he began. “You think that I gave you that date rape drug?”
Nina stared daggers at him, her green eyes burning with hatred.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Rowan continued. “And you think I did that, all because of some huge plan to make you into, what, my own personal hostage sex slave or something?”
Nina’s nostrils flared, and she puffed out angrily, blowing her hair away from her face.
“Not ‘or something’, dickhole,” she retorted. “Exactly that.”
Rowan stared back at her for several long seconds. Then he could no longer help it. He burst out laughing.
Nina watched him in absolute shock. He laughed heartily, his face cracking into comedy, tiny tears appearing in the corners of his eyes. Eventually, she felt her own anger ebbing away slightly, only because of the sheer ridiculousness of the picture before her. This big, muscular man, tattoos creeping down his arms, dark hair rolling past his chin, choking and spluttering and crying because he was laughing so hard.
“Oh,” he heaved, finally gaining control of himself again. “I’m sorry.” He wiped a hand across his eyes, collecting the discarded tears. “I am sorry,” he repeated, more calmly now, fixing Nina with a look of naked sincerity. “I just… sorry, but don’t flatter yourself. That is not at all what is going on here. I did not give you any sort of memory altering drug, or any drug, for that matter.”
Nina stared at him, confusion beginning to work its way again up into her mind.
“No?” she said, her voice still hard, her arms still wrapped tightly around her body. “Then what happened?”
“What happened,” Rowan said, suddenly very serious. “Is that you passed right out and smacked your head on the side of a tree.”
Silence spread out between them and netted the words that had fallen from his lips. The truth hung there in the air as the night flooded back into Nina’s mind. She remembered the dawn cracking itself across the sky. She recalled rubbing her eyes. And then, the sudden dizziness, the rush of extreme and concentrated exhaustion, and the sensation of falling, the ground rushing up to meet her… then nothing, until waking up moments ago. She stared at Rowan, expressionless, and felt a deep crimson blush creep its way across her cheeks.
“And then I picked you up and carried you back here,” he said softly, looking at her with true concern. “You had some blood on your head, and I cleaned that up, no need for stitches, luckily, but I was pretty damn worried, girl.” He shook his head and blew air through his perfect lips. “I’m glad you’re awake now. I bet you’re feeling pretty damned dizzy and weird though, so I get why you thought… well, what you thought.”
Rowan stood again and crossed the room to stand by a large metal canteen. He grabbed a china glass from a shelf above and tipped the canteen forward. Clear, cool water spilled from the mouth of the canteen and splashed into the glass.
“Here,” he said as he crossed the room and squatted by Nina.
He held the glass out to her. She dropped the blankets and took the china cup in both her hands and brought it to her lips. She drank. The water felt like a cool, sweet kiss, pure and refreshing, it rushed down her throat and eased the throbbing of her head ever so slightly. She finished the glass in one breath and then dropped the china cup back into both her hands, stretching it forward for more. Rowan filled the glass and began to speak again as he crossed the room and back towards her side.
“It’s good that you rest and drink up and what not, because I would be betting from the way that you hit that tree, you are likely suffering from at least a stage two concussion right now, possibly even a stage three.” He returned the china cup to her hands and gently wrapped her fingers around it. She felt a subtle warmth spread itself out across the bottom of her belly as his inked, tan fingers pressed against her own. “And you need to be sitting here and sipping fluids, sure, but you have also really gotta put some food into you.”
He reached down and again collected the cup of coffee and the bacon and toast. He offered them towards her, and she dropped the empty cup onto the blankets and took the dishes from his large, calloused hands. She grabbed at the bread in her unsteady fingers and used it to pick up the thick slice of bacon. Carefully, focusing hard on steadiness, she brought the food to her lips. The flavors exploded across her palate, and her eyes rolled back in pleasure. The fat and grease soothed her head, and she felt some semblance of sanity returning to her mind. As she polished off the breakfast, her heart slowed its rapid pace, and she was able to sip at her coffee calmly, almost peacefully.
Rowan watched her as she ate, the way a doctor might watch his sick patient. When she had finished her breakfast, he took the plate gently from her hands and walked through the doorway and out of Nina’s sight, into another room. She heard the pleasant sound of rushing water and imagined his strong arms forcing soap suds across the greasy trails of bacon grease. Her eyes began to slide shut again, and she placed the cup of half finished coffee upon the floor, her body slipping down towards the warm hug of pillows and quilts once again. Just as sleep was about to wrap its comforting arms around her, Rowan returned to the room and stood by her side.
“Hey, lady?” he said softly. His voice was no longer as rough and harsh as it had been in the forest the night before. Now it sounded gentle, smooth, like dark marble.
“Huh?” Nina responded, her eyes fluttering closed.
“You asked me, so I was supposing it was only fair,” he began. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his well-worn jeans and looked down at the pale girl sliding away into sleep. “What’s your name?”
Nina pulled the blankets up to her chin and turned her mouth towards him.
“Nina,” she murmured.
He watched as her pink lips shaped the two syllables and he swore that they looked as if they were dancing the most beautiful dance.
“Nina,” he repeated, savoring the word, how it twinkled upon his tongue, his lips. He smiled and looked over the girl, now fast asleep.
“Well, Nina,” he whispered. “you get some rest. I’ll be here. I’ll keep you safe.”
***
Nina rolled over, pushing the blankets back from her form, pushing sleepiness away from her fluttering eyes. She yawned and reached her arms up towards the ceiling, her body enjoying the feeling of being pulled gently to and fro after a long and still slumber. She pushed herself upwards and found that morning light still spilled in through the glass windows. She pushed the blankets back and squinted out the window, her nose pressed to the glass. It was most certainly still morning, the sun hung low in the sky, just daring to peek its golden head above the the centers of the trees. She spied several horses rustling each other awake with playful whips of their tails. Nina shimmied forward, releasing herself from the warm folds of the blankets. She pressed her fingers against the iron latch that sat at the center of the glassy panes and pressed. The window sprung open easily, and the smell of fresh morning air seeped in towards her, washing her in wakefulness. It was most certainly morning. She felt rested; her head throbbed still, but now the pulsating pain was more of a background sound. More like a persisting annoyance than an all possessing sensation. She ran her fingers through her hair and discovered that a large lump crowned the right side of her head. She winced as she poked at it gingerly; still very tender to the touch. Nina pulled the window shut and placed her feet down onto the hardwood floor.
The fireplace sat empty, barren of flames, which she was instantly thankful for; it was hot and humid. Beads of sweat worked their way down her neck; rivulets of sweat snaked down her chest and dribbled between her breasts. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face. She lifted her shirt and mopped at the sweat that had begun to pour over her body. She realized then that she was very warm indeed and, to her disgust, that she smelled rancid.
“Oh god,” she coughed, sniffing at herself. “Ohhhh my god. Holy shit. Ew.”
She desperately glanced side to side, looking for somewhere she could strip her clothes and scrub her body clean. Feeling awkward, she decided to stay put and instead seek Rowan’s help. She cleared her throat and stretched her voice.
“Rowan!” she called. She waited and listened. The house remained quiet except for the shifting of the floor boards and the soft brushing of tree branches against the window panes. She waited, then opened her mouth again. “Rowan!” she called again, a bit louder this time.
Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on listening for his response. Still, no answer came. Nina sighed and walked out of the fireplace room and into the next. She found herself in a small sort of kitchen and dining area, home to impressive floor to ceiling windows. A huge gas cooking range sat against the wall, and an ice box rubbed shoulders with a sink. Nina found a collection of bright red, tiny tomatoes sitting in a hand-woven basket upon the smooth, stone countertop. She popped up onto her tip toes and reached a hand into the depths of the basket and plucked a single tiny tomato from the pile. She popped it into her mouth and chewed. An explosion of sweetness warmed her taste buds. She reached for another, popped it into her mouth, and wandered down a small, short hallway lined with framed polaroid pictures. She paused, sucking on the tomato, considering the pictures.
“So are you also a photographer, then?” She heard herself ask aloud as she ran her fingers over the framed images and shook her head. “Rowan, Rowan, Rowan.” She let the name sit upon her tongue, rolled it around in her mouth, tasting the way every syllable felt upon her lips, rubbing against her throat. “Who are you?”
One Polaroid featured the cabin, clad in the feathery magic of a dusty snowfall, a dog sitting proudly by its front door. Another framed photo starred a stranger laughing, her dark hair pulled away from her face in a messy bun, her dark eyes alight with life. Nina turned and found herself face to face with a photo of a horse, a close up of its face, its nostrils pressed against the lens. Its eyes were blinking long eyelashes at the camera, as if ready for its close up. She grinned and swallowed the tomato, then continued her walk down the short corridor. Then she turned and stopped.
“Oh,” she said suddenly. “Well then.”
The hall ended with a doorway. The door stood shut, a tarnished bronze knob protecting anyone from entry. She considered the closed door for a moment, then rested her hand upon the knob. She drummed her fingers against the tarnished bronze for a moment, thinking.
He has been very open with me so far… almost shockingly honest, and open. But how do I even know that that is actually the truth, this sort of personality that he is, like, presenting to me? She eyed the door, her pulse quickening with intrigue. Out of bounds seems like the perfect invitation to me, Nina thought. Maybe, like, a chance to see who this Rowan really is. And with that, she pressed her fingers firmly around the doorknob and twisted.
The door swung open slowly, revealing a small, tidy bedroom. A tightly made bed sat in the corner, and another rusted iron wood stove sat beside it. The nubs of melted candles spilled over the edges of old pop bottles, decorating the edge of the bedroom’s window ledge. A stack of books climbed upwards, spines brushing the ceiling. Nina’s mouth dropped, and her eyes spilled into green circles of disbelief as she noted that shelves of books filled every spare space of the bedroom wall. She took a step forward into the bedroom, her bare foot pressing against the floor boards, causing them to sigh pleasantly beneath her weight. She eased forward, slowly, carefully, the feeling that she was trespassing bubbling up in the center of her chest. It was both anxiety inducing and delicious, she realized. She made her way across the pale wood floorboards until she held her face inches from the nearest span of soaring books. She reached out her fingers and carefully brushed their spines.
The books were soft and welcoming; they seemed to beg her to touch them. She began to walk slowly around the room, dragging her fingers across their spines, feeling her own spine shiver with delight as she made her journey across this forbidden bedroom of a stranger. It was as she turned the corner and found herself suddenly aware of the presence of another person.
Nina froze, her fingers still playing upon the spine of a thick, darkly covered book, her eyes unblinking, staring straight ahead. She turned slowly and found Rowan standing in the doorway, a white towel hanging loosely from his waist, his chest bare, his hair damp. She gasped, trying to find words.
“I… I just…” She stuttered over and over.
“Hi,” Rowan said, leaning against the door frame.
His body was impossible not to look at it. She found her green eyes wandering over his chiseled chest, his perfect abs…Her gaze traced the shape of his thighs, pressing against the tight white towel, the way the cotton fabric stretched across his crotch. She found herself mesmerized by the way the patterns of black ink carved pictures across his perfect skin; her eyes became tangled in the rolling of black and red, the roiling of green and blue painting his body into a true work of art. She blinked and swallowed, but still, the moment held its magic; the image was impossibly beautiful. Droplets of liquid clung to his upper lip, danced in his beard as they caught the early morning light that spun its way through the glass window panes. She found herself dropping her hands from the soft touch of the books and pressing them breathlessly against her chest. Her heart leaped as Rowan dropped his arms from the door frame and took a single step forward. The towel flashed slightly open, and Nina glimpsed a split second’s image of his hard, muscular thigh. She bit at her lip.
“What are you doing in here?” Rowan asked, crossing to his bed. He grabbed a shirt from the shelf above his headboard and wrestled it over his head. Nina watched his back muscles work to pull the material over his mass of wet, black hair. He shoved the sleeves up, displaying the rivets of his muscular arms. She swallowed again as he turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Oh,” she gasped, realizing he had posed a question and she had not yet answered. She looked down at her bare feet, her sweaty pants, then glanced back up at him. As she did so, he ran a hand through his damp hair, tossing it gently back from his face. Her heart skipped.
“I… I was just looking for the like… the coffee,” she sputtered. She willed her cheeks not to blush and forced herself to hold his gaze. Rowan stared at her for a moment, then nodded and grinned.
“Alright,” he said. “I bet. I mean you’ve been out for two days now, you probably need a good reviving sip, huh?” He turned his back to her and reached beneath his bed, his hand returning with a pair of faded jeans in tow. He unfolded the pants and undid their fastenings.
“What?” she said. She glanced again at the window, and then the smell of her body odor hit her again, full in the face. She winced and took a step back from him. “Okay, like ya, that makes sense, because I smell like a fucking horse.”
Rowan laughed, his face cracking into a pleasant expression.
“Hey now, don’t you be insulting my horses. Those babies are beauties,” he teased.
Nina smiled and raised her hands.
“Okay… like, a horse that rolled in manure and then didn’t like do anything about it for at least, like, a week. Is that better?”
Rowan squinted at her, his grin growing. He loosened his towel.
“Yea,” he agreed. “I’ll give you that one. This time.”
Rowan leaned forward and grabbed a loose handful of Nina’s vibrant hair. He pressed it to his face and breathed in. He pulled his face back, mocking disgust, and dropped the hair back to her shoulder.
“Oh, gross,” he mocked, waving his hand in the air as if to banish a terrible smell. “Jeez, you really do smell like horse shit.” He ran a hand through her hair, and she felt her cheeks flush while her heart skipped. Then he grinned at her and winked. He turned his back to her, then turned his head back and nodded towards the water spigot that stood proudly outside the house. “You can go wash up out there, alright? There are buckets and some soap.”
Nina stared at him for a moment, uncomprehending.
“Wait…” she began. “You want me to just like, get showered and shit? Outside?”
Rowan did not even turn around to face her.
“Yep,” he said. “I mean, unless you don’t really feel like washing up. Because honey, that’s all there is out here. Sorry, but it’s kind of, hm, what was that endearing thing you called it? Oh, right: the middle of fucking nowhere.”
Nina stared for a moment in disbelief. Then, realizing she was serious, she turned and stalked out the door. As she turned the corner back into the small hallway, she saw Rowan out of the corner of her eye; he dropped the towel, let it slide down his waist, exposing his muscular ass. Then he shimmied into his light jeans and turned so quickly she did not have a second to run.
“What are you waiting for?” he said calmly. He grinned. “Get washed up.”
***
Nina stood in front of the iron spigot, staring it down angrily.
“Okayyyy,” she breathed, pressing her hands against her thighs. “Alrighttt.”
She cleared her throat and glanced around, expecting to encounter a surprise crowd of people. There was no one in sight, only the horses, who did not seem to care at all about her presence. The trees surrounded the clearing, bowing slightly to her in the wind, as if exulting her body. She took a breath and yanked her pants from her body, shimmying her round ass out of the confining material. As she stripped the tartan from her legs, the wind picked up, and her skin seemed to sing at the touch of fresh air pressing against it after so many days. She raised her hands suddenly and tilted back her head. The wind eagerly responded, grabbing at her and playing through it; kissing her cheeks the color of rose petals. She laughed and found herself spinning in circles, and the sheer ridiculousness of it made her laugh even more. When she finally stopped spinning and opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with Rowan. He was smiling, staring at her, his beard playing with the wind, his eyes alive with joy.
“You like it?” he asked, and although he didn’t even finish the sentence, Nina found herself nodding, smiling, laughing in agreement.
“Yes,” she said, and she took a step forward. She reached out a hand and pressed it against his stomach, her fingers finding the outlines of his abs. She breathed in as her pulse quickened, then looked up at him, her eyes a dangerous shade of green. “I really like it.”
Rowan looked at her for a moment, his face unreadable, his eyes black pools of temptation. Then in one motion he leaned forward, grabbed her roughly and pulled her towards him, and pressed his lips against her own. Nina gasped and pressed her lips against his face. He held her tenderly yet roughly against him, his abs heaving and pressing into her torso, his hips pushing against her own in a way that made her gasp. Her tongue flicked against the roof of his mouth, and he felt himself beginning to harden. He ran his fingers through her mane of hair, daring to burn his tattooed flesh against the fiery tendrils of her mane, daring to be burned, if only to roll with her in heated bliss for a few moments. He cupped her face and kissed her fiercely, tenderly, his fingers tracing the outline of her cheek, her hands running down his back, grabbing at his ass, his hips, then finally, finally, and his eyes began to roll back in bliss, sliding beneath his shirt and slinking downwards towards his crotch.
That was when he stopped. He pulled away from her roughly, so suddenly that she startled, her eyes flashing open with green electricity, her hair flying backward in the wind. He picked her up under one arm and threw her down against the soft ground. She cried out in pleasure, her fingers slinking beneath her shirt, caressing her breasts. He grinned and peeled his own shirt back away from his body, revealing his impossibly toned stomach, the inky snake dangerously slinking up and down his center. His chest heaved up and down in time with the rhythm of her own writhing. This made his dick throb. He reached down and undid his pants. Her eyes widened, and she pinched both her nipples, her lips hanging open, her legs trembling with eager anticipation.
“Oh, fuck,” he breathed, and he walked slowly over her, a predator readying himself to pounce on his prey. “Oh holy fuck, sweet, sweet Nina, baby.” Rowan dropped to his knees over her body, turning back and forth with eagerness. “Mmm.”
He ran his fingers up and under her shirt. His tattooed hand caught open her right breast, and he bit his lip, stared at her in her green eyes. He pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and twisted lightly. Nina’s eyelids fluttered, and she breathed out.
“Ohhh,” she cried, her lips parting in joy. “Yes, Rowan, yes, please.”
Rowan grinned, leaned forward, brushed his long hair from his eyes. He pulled Nina up towards him suddenly, roughly, rolling up her shirt and undoing her bra all in one smooth movement. Her hands traced the back of his head, and her lips fell upon his cheek. She bit at his ear, and he snarled back. He ripped the bra from her body and threw the shirt to the ground. Then he pressed her back down to the grass, hard, and ran his hands over her naked body. He had to grit his teeth as his fingers traced her tight stomach. He ran his hands up her body and was thrilled as her form responded. Her light flesh tilted and shivered at his touch, and her back arched up in reaction to how he ran his fingers up her stomach. He traced her breasts with both his hands, running his fingers over the soft flesh that framed her nipples. Then he looked her directly in the eyes, his face serious, his eyes filled with dangerous lust. He gripped both her perfect, pink nipples in his fingers and squeezed. Then he lowered his face to her breasts and wrapped his lips around her nipple. She breathed out in ecstasy, and he sucked at her nipple until her eyes shut with joy. He released it from his mouth and ran his fingers through her hair.
“You like that, Nina?” he whispered gruffly, pressing his teeth against her neck hungrily.
“Oh,” she cried, pressing her hands against his naked back. She drove her nails into his flesh and flicked her tongue against collar bones. “Yes, Rowan,” she gasped, her eyes glinting with sunlight. “Please, Rowan, more, give it all to me, baby, please.”
Rowan breathed in the smell of her, the faint lingerings of floral perfume, the human scent of her hair. Then he lowered her gently back down upon the grass, resting her head softly upon the ground. He looked her in the eyes as the breath fluttered from between her pink parted lips. Then he leaned his head in and kissed her tenderly, lovingly, running his hands through her beautiful hair. As he kissed her his fingers slid down her body, tracing the stunning curve of her breasts, her hips. He pressed his lips against her cheek, rubbed his face against her own, cupped her head in his large hand, and his other hand slid down her body to her lean waist. He slipped his fingers beneath the fabric of her pink thong and ran his hand over the soft skin of her pussy.
“Mmmm,” Nina moaned.
She reached down and pressed his head against her skin, easing him downwards, encouraging his lips to explore her body. Rowan complied. He tore her thong away from her body and slid his fingers along her tender pussy. He found her clit and began to circle it slowly with her fingers, massaging her gently, tenderly.
“Oh, Rowan,” Nina sighed.
She reached up and cupped her breasts, pressed them hard against her body in bliss. Rowan grinned and pressed his lips to her clit. He ran his tongue over her clit and eyed her. Their eyes caught on to each others’ and held and Rowan felt his cock bulge with attraction. He pressed his lips against her clit and sucked and licked, caressed her beautiful bits of flesh with tenderness and appreciation. Then he slid his hand downwards and slipped his tattooed fingers inside of her.
Nina cried out in joy, her eyes rolling back and her body shaking with pleasure. Rowan slid his fingers in and out of her, feeling how wet she was, closing his eyes to savor the warmth of her body around his hand. Then he could no longer bear it. He slipped his hand out of her body and tore his pants from his muscular form. Nina’s eyes flickered open, and she gaped at the man that stood before her.
“Ho….ly...fuck.”
Rowan stood before her, naked, perfect, the ideal image of manhood. His cock was hard and thick, and at that moment Nina longed for nothing more than to wrap her lips around its shaft.
Rowan lowered himself before her, but before he could make another move, Nina was upon him. She leaped off the ground and pushed him down onto the grass. She crawled up his body and licked down his abs. Her fingers raced down his sides, caressing the outlines of his muscular arms, squeezing his body against her own. Rowan groaned and let his eyes roll back, let himself fall into pure bliss. Nina grinned and flicked her eyebrows up and down. Then she grabbed his hard, throbbing cock in her hand. She ran her hand up and down, licking her lips eagerly as she eyed him.
“Your cock is so hard,” she whispered against his ear. The feeling of her lips brushing against his neck, his cheek, sent goosebumps careening down Rowan’s spine. “I can’t wait to put that hard dick into my mouth.”
Nina kissed Rowan’s stomach, his hips, all the while stroking his large cock. Her hands slipped expertly up and down his shaft, and her tongue flickered around his hip bones in a maddeningly teasing dance. Finally, she slipped her lips around the head of his cock. Rowan cried out in thankfulness and his hands tangled in the tangled flames of her hair. She sucked at his hard manhood, taking it deep within her throat, rolling the edges of her tongue up and down the sides of his dick. She pressed her body against his own and pulled him into her mouth deeper. She slammed his dick deep into her throat and then began to slide him in and out, in and out, of her warm mouth, her lips pursed and her eyes glinting with pleasure.
Nina pulled her lips slowly off of his thick shaft and watched as his hard cock sprung free from her pink, wet mouth. She smiled, mouth hanging open and nodded at him, her pale eyebrows leaping up her flushed face.
“You like that? You like it when I suck that hard cock?”
Rowan nodded, running his trembling fingers over his beard.
“Oh, you bet I like that, Nina,” he grunted, and then he pushed himself upright and grabbed her by the hips. “But I don’t like anything in the world as much as you are going to like this.”
Nina threw her head of hair back at him and fixed him with an eager gaze, her green eyes blinking lazily, her mouth hanging open as her tits bounced with the rapid heaving of her chest.
“Show me,” she ordered.
And with that Rowan thrust himself inside of her. The feeling was overwhelming, one of pure ecstasy, one of explosive pleasure. They both cried out as Rowan began to move inside of her, sliding himself more deeply into her soft, warm body. Nina arched her back and rubbed her supple ass against his hardened cock as he eased in and out of her. He gripped her curved hips in his hands, and she tossed her hair back, responding to every single movement of his body against her own. As he began to press deep within her, she exploded with pleasure, crying out, her hips grinding around his own in a circular rhythm. He drove into her harder, faster, flicking her wet clit with his fingers. Rowan Leaned forward to grip her bouncing breasts in his hand, squeezing her nipples as she reached her hands back to grab his beard and pull his lips against her own. Biting, grazing, holding hard and gasping for breath they tumbled on the grass, running their hand over each others’ naked bodies, Rowan moving deeply inside of her, Nina grinding her hips over his hard, thick cock, her breasts bouncing up and down, smacking together with the pulsation of their movement, her hair flying through the wind, a tangle of black locks and red flame, their eyes meeting and sparks shaking them both with bliss.
Suddenly Rowan pulled his throbbing cock from Nina’s center, and a stream of clear liquid spurted from her pussy, spraying his dick with pleasure. Her back arched and she reached forward and ran her hand up and down his thick shaft, her eyes rolling back as he lifted his arms and felt his body bursting with ecstasy, cresting the peak of beautiful climax, reaching the tops of pleasure as he finished, milky droplets raining down to kiss the beauty of her trembling breasts.
Nina’s hand fell from his cock, and he fell down to his hands and knees, breathing heavily, beads of sweat pouring down his forehead, catching on his eyelids, tangling with the coal black strands of his beard. He stared at her body, her heaving, perfect form, still writhing with pleasure, her lean, pale legs twisting back and forth in the after effect of the bliss, her hands roaming mindlessly over her own body, spreading the milky product of his climax over her naked breasts in a way that made his heart flutter like he had never before known was possible. He stared at the small mound of her pubic bone, the way it raised upwards and fell down, over and over again, still riding the rhythm of the orgasm, still radiating the pure bliss of having ridden his cock, of having taken his own body inside her own, and he felt himself overwhelmed with attraction.
His lust pressed down hard upon him, and he ran a hand through his hair, steadying himself; he straightened his beard. Rowan felt his lust for this fiery girl becoming something more. It was at that moment, as he struggled to catch his breath while watching her pale white form writhing, her curves slithering like the tattooed inky serpent eternally slithered down his own body, that he swore he would always protect this girl; no matter what it took. He felt himself overwhelmed by attraction to this strange city girl, and he could not for the life of him understand why, yet he knew at that moment, with this green-eyed girl staring up at him, her eyes full of intrigue, amazement, and attraction, that she was his, and she would always be his. He would make damn sure of that.
You are not losing this one, Rowan, he thought as his dick finally began to lose its erection. He brushed grass from his abs and stared down at her, fighting the feeling of tears that prickled the backs of his eyes. No matter what it takes, you are not losing this wonder of a girl.
Rowan watched as Nina pushed herself upwards from the ground, curving her exquisite body upward towards him. He watched as she shook the tangled flames of her hair from her face and then tilted her head up towards the sun, collecting warmth upon her cheeks, her chin. She closed her eyes and a smile, genuine, her perfectly pink lips carving pure joy across her freckled face, filled her face. Rowan laughed, and she opened her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her fingers against his thighs.
“Why are you laughing?” she asked, her green eyes glinting playfully. “Was that funny to you?”
Rowan laughed again and shook his head, sending his mass of dark hair shivering through the wind. Then he smoothed his beard, sliding tattoos across his chin, and set his fingers atop Nina’s.
“Funny?” he asked, looking into her eyes. “Funny, no.” He poured the coal black embers of his pupils into her green meadow irises in a way that sent goosebumps racing down Nina’s spine. “But fun?” And Rowan’s lips twisted into a half-smile, making him a picture of impossible attraction for Nina. “Fun, Nina, yes. It was the most fun I have had in…” His face suddenly clouded, and he pulled his fingers away. He reached for his pants and stood, beginning again to redress himself. “...in a long time,” he continued.
Nina lazed in the soft grass, watching the pants slide up Rowan’s legs, the muscles of his arms twitching as he worked the jeans back on. She absentmindedly picked a dead leaf from the ground beside her and began to tear it into tiny, red-orange pieces that fell across her taut stomach. Rowan reached down and tugged his shirt over his head, his toned back slipping out of view. He stepped away from her, and the sun instantly flashed down upon Nina, blinding her and knocking her head down into the grass. She grabbed at her temples and cried out, her concussed head screaming in pain at the sudden brightness of the sun. Then she rolled over and threw up on the grass.
Rowan turned sharply and grabbed Nina by the hips. He lifted her upright with tender hands and pulled her hair gently away from her face. He ran his tattooed fingers over her cheeks and spun her slowly his way, careful not to cause her any more dizziness, any more pain. He bent down slightly and wiped the vomit from her lips.
“Hey,” he said softly, running a hand through her hair. “Are you okay there, babe?”
His tone made Nina crumbled into his chest, tears pricking her eyes. She gripped his waist and shielded her face from the dizzying glare of the sun.
“Hey,” Rowan said, bending down to meet her face. “It’s okay, Nina.”
He cupped a gentle hand beneath her chin and tried to steady her eyes. Staring into the green glass orbs of this pale, naked fairy, he saw that she seemed unable to focus; her gaze wandered back and forth, up and down, circling upon itself. His brow furrowed with concern and in one swift movement he stood to his full height and scooped her up in his strong and able arms. Her face lolled to the side, and her eyelids fluttered closed.
“Hey now, Nina,” he whispered tenderly, beginning to carry her carefully back to the wooden cabin. “It really is going to be alright. I’ve got you. I’m going to take care of you.”
He squeezed her tightly, overwhelmed by the beauty he held in his arms. Her cheek pressed against his chest and he felt his heartbeat begin to quicken, felt that he might scream out in joy out of pure and overwhelming love, the love he felt for this strange, fairy-like girl with pale skin and a smart tongue, this girl he held against him at the centre of a forest, beneath a smiling autumn sky. He bent his neck forward and kissed Nina softly on her sleeping forehead.
“I may not be the rich smary asshole you might have imagined yourself with,” he whispered to her, stroking her cheek. “But I promise you, I am here to watch over you, to care for you, to protect you while you heal. No harm shall come to you while you’re getting over this concussion. That I promise you, beauty.”
He used his shoulder to push open the cabin door, in order not to disturb the red headed goddess from her slumber. He walked through the entryway and kitchen, then slowly lowered her onto his bed. Nina’s head sunk into the pillows and a graceful smile painted itself across her face. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on her pink lips, braiding dark black hair with fiery red, an orchestration of ember and flame. Then he stood up and stared down at her fondly.
“You are safe here, my beautiful Nina,” Rowan whispered. “Respect, protection, and awe… awe at your beauty, the stunning light that radiates from your eyes. That is what you have from me.”
With that, Rowan crept from the room and quietly closed the door, leaving the girl with the mane of flames to heal herself in the protected comfort of his own bed.